Al Rajhi Bank, the biggest Saudi bank by market capitalisation, reported a 21 per cent year-on-year rise in its first quarter net income, propelled by a rise in special commission income and fees from banking services.

Net profit for the three-month period ending March 31 climbed to 2.9 billion Saudi riyals (Dh2.84bn), the lender said in a regulatory filing to Tadawul Stock Exchange, where its shares are traded. Net income for special commissions and investments rose by 3.94bn riyals, a 14.6 per cent jump from the first quarter of 2018. Total revenues from the same segment of the business also surged 15 per cent by 4bn riyals, it added.

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“Net income increased due to an increase in total operation income by 12 per cent,” the bank said in the bourse filing. “It increased net special commission income and fees from banking services.”

The lender however, recorded a fall in its net exchange income and other operating income, at the end of the first quarter, however, operating expenses fell by 0.3 per cent, on the back of a fall in impairment charges by 13.5 per cent.

Its loans and advances portfolio grew 3.6 per cent to 236.42 million riyals, while customers’ deposits increased 3.7 per cent by 293.5m riyals.

Al Rajhi, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest lender by assets, earlier this year said it is in talks for a potential merger of its fully-owned subsidiary in Malaysia with a state-backed financial institution in the South-East Asian country.

The possibility of combining the balance sheets of Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation Malaysia and Malaysian Industrial Development Finance are at early stages, the Saudi lender said in a statement in January.